Fictional characters make my world go round

CURSED: A Yorkshire Ghost Story by Karen Perkins

A skeleton is dug up at the crossing of the ways on Hanging Moor, striking dread into the heart of Old Ma Ramsgill – the elderly matriarch of the village of Thruscross. And with good reason. The eighteenth-century witch, Jennet, has been woken.

A spate of killings by a vicious black dog gives credence to her warnings and the community – in particular her family – realise they are in terrible danger.

Drastic measures are needed to contain her, but with the imminent flooding of the valley to create a new reservoir, do they have the ability to stop her and break her curse?

Book Excerpt

Old Ma Ramsgill continued her chanting of, ‘I bind thee, Jennet Scot, to this valley. Thee’ll do no more harm here. I bind thee Jennet Scot—’ She screamed as something knocked her down. Screamed again as her body broke. Then resumed her chant.

The storm above the valley intensified.

‘Got you now, bitch,’ Ma whispered. ‘Got you on the run – too busy celebrating your freedom, forgot what was—’ She screamed again as lightning struck nearby.

‘Missed, bitch!’ She cackled into the sudden dark as the lights went out. ‘That all you got? Terrorise my family, would you? Ha!’

Another scream as her leg was twisted and she felt – and heard – another bone break. ‘Do what you like to me – I’ve lived a long life, more than you ever did. Too late to stop me now!’

The fire flared and sparks leapt out into the room.

‘No!’ Old Ma Ramsgill screamed, louder than she had for sixty years. Sparks landed on the pile of journals and bred flames. As they took hold, Ma forced her broken body along the floor and reached out. She found her own journal, dragged it out of the inferno, beat it against the floor, then rolled on top of it to smother the flames. She passed out.

About The Author

Karen Perkins lives in Yorkshire, where she spends her time writing and publishing as proprietor of LionheART Publishing House. She has been a keen sailor since childhood, competing nationally and internationally until the day she had both National and European Ladies Champion titles. Although she no longer takes to the water, she continues to enjoy sailing in her imagination and fiction – capsizing far less often!

She has written the novella (Ill Wind) and the full-length novel (Dead Reckoning – long-listed in the Mslexia Novel Competition 2011) both of which are number one bestsellers in Sea Adventures on Amazon.co.uk in the Valkyrie Series. Look Sharpe!, Valkyrie 3, has just been released and will shortly be followed by the short story, Where Away and the novel Ready About!.

Karen Perkins has also written the novel, Thores-Cross and the associated short story Cursed in the Yorkshire Ghost Story Series. Dark, haunting tales set in the North Yorkshire Moors about isolation, superstition and persecution, Thores-Cross follows the stories of Emma, a present day writer, and Jennet, an eighteenth century witch. Thores-Cross is a number one bestseller in British Horror on Amazon.com, and will soon be followed by the next book in the series, Knight of Betrayal. Set in both 1170 and modern day, Knight of Betrayal focuses on the four knights – Hugh de Morville, Reginald fitz Urse, William de Tracey and Richard le Bret – who broke the sanctuary of Canterbury Cathedral to murder the Archbishop, Thomas Becket. Hiding out in Knaresborough Castle, the extreme level of their medieval sense of guilt and dishonour has horrific repercussions nearly a millennium later.

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